President Gorge W. Bush, looking for fun things to do until January 20th, pardoned 14 people yesterday, commuting the sentences of 2 others.
The list does not include any big names, such as sprinter Marion Jones, junk bond dealer Michael Milken, former Representative Randy “Duke” Cunningham, or four-term Democratic Louisiana Gov. Edwin W. Edwards — all of whom are asking for pardons. But it did contain some fun ones, most notably a man convicted of unauthorized acquisition of food stamps; a man who unknowingly killed three bald eagles with misplaced pesticides; a couple dudes with a lot of drugs; and my personal favorite, a man convicted of “making false statements to the federal government.” Yeah, Bush can sooo relate to that.
Still unclear is whether or not President Bush will give preemptive pardons to those involved in handling (read: torturing) suspected terrorists after September 11th. It would give these officials criminal immunity in the rare case that Obama conducts investigations once he takes office, and would be a controversial move among constitutional scholars and human rights groups, even for Bush.
